Catching Up with the West Halls Guitar Man

With the arctic chills of last week just a cruel memory, sophomore Alex Kulwik is back to embracing his alter ego — Guitar Man.

If you have spent time around Thompson Hall in West, you may have heard his musical stylings before.

“I’ve been playing guitar for about four years and I’ve been playing out here for about two years,” said Kulwik.

Kulwik thinks he’s found the ideal spot for unintentional acoustics under the arches of Thompson Hall. “The sound is actually pretty good here. Something about the acoustics with the bricks,” he said. “I come out here just about every day that I can.”

With the weather warm enough, Kulwik was in his zone on Tuesday channeling his inner Bryan Adams and playing his old six-string ‘til his fingers bled — literally. “I put in a lot of time,” he explained, “but it’s worth it. Music is a passion for me. I just can’t get away from it. It inspires me and it’s just a great way to express yourself and get away from the world sometimes.”

He’s put in enough time that he has something of a following, or at least, a certain level of recognition around West Halls. “I was actually in the stall stories that they do around here at one point. Now a lot of people know me as Guitar Man until they get to know me better,” said Guitar Man (I don’t know him better).

Like any do-gooder with an alter ego, he’s not doing it for the glory. That being said, some glory would be greatly appreciated. “Music is a passion for me so if I ever got a gig here or there that’d be great, or even if I found some people to play with,” said Guitar Man. Despite not ever drawing massive crowds to the archways (probably due to his lack of pyrotechnics) the Guitar Man has a song list for people to make requests. “I taught myself how to play and I’ve never taken singing lessons so I don’t have that wide of a variety, but the song list makes it easier for people to pick what I play next,” he said.

To the potential venues, future band members, and clawing groupies who are dying to get a hold of him, you know where to look: the arches of Thompson Hall. Until the fickle winds of State College send us back into the Ice Age, you can find him doing what he does: singing, playing music, and forcing the people napping above him to keep their windows closed.